This invention relates to a circular knitting machine comprising means for producing circular knitwear, a fabric spreader with first and second ends arranged below said means, a take-down and/or winding-up device and a spreading out device which is arranged between said fabric spreader and said take-down and/or winding-up device and which includes V-rolls connected to one another at a junction point in V shape and a cutting device associated with said V-rolls such that a tubular section of said circular knitwear is laid flat by the fabric spreader, is slit by the cutting device along a longitudinal fold formed by the first end of said fabric spreader, is spread out by means of said V-rolls along a second longitudinal fold formed by the second end of said fabric spreader and is taken down in the spread out state by said take-down and/or winding-up device.
In conventional circular knitting machines knitwear of hose form is initially produced as a rule and is then put together as a double layer band and is fed in this form to a take-down and/or winding-up device and is finally wound up on a winding-up roller or otherwise taken off. In order to arrange that the hose goods are engaged and passed on by the take-down and/or winding-up device free from distortion and creases, a fabric spreader is as a rule arranged between the take-down device and the means producing the knitwear. The spreader comes to lie in the interior of the hose and is so shaped that the knitwear created essentially in a cylindrical form is pulled out wide in a radial direction at two diametrically opposite sides and is thus transformed into a substantially flat, double layer fabric band, before it gets into the region of action of the take-down and/or winding-up device. A disadvantage is that longitudinal folds or creases result at the two longitudinal sides of the double layer fabric band, which are permanently impressed in the fabric, especially when fine, elastic yarns are used, and cannot be removed in the finishing, even by specific finishing measures.
Circular knitting machines of the kind initially specified have therefore already been made known which take down and wind up a fabric slit along its longitudinal side and then opened out to double width, instead of the closed hose fabric coming from the machine (DE-T2-069 121 291, U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,558, WO-A 00/506 78). In such a case take-down and optionally also winding-up rollers are provided which have approximately twice the otherwise usual length and the machine diameter must in this case also be made substantially larger than is generally the case. An advantage of this form of machine is seen in that the two creases are obviated which arise when tubular knitwear is wound up.
However investigations with such circular knitting machines have shown that the cut and spread-out knitwear, when it comes from the machine, is distorted to an intolerable extent and creases form. More detailed investigations indicate that curved loop courses or stitch rows, respectively, in a middle region of the fabric are the cause of this distortion. The curving of the loop courses can for its part be caused by the fact that the fabricxe2x80x94as regarded over its widthxe2x80x94is transported and fed to the take-down and/or winding-up device with a non-uniform speed in the region of the V-rolls being part of the spreading out device, so that take-down free from distortion and folds is not possible.
It is, therefore, an object underlying this invention to make possible a take-down of the knitted fabric without causing distortion and faults.
A further object of this invention to provide a circular knitting machine of the kind specified above for producing knitwear free from faults.
Another object of this invention is to design the circular knitting machine specified above in such a manner that a tubular portion of the knitwear is spread out in a manner which avoids the formation of curved loop courses.
Yet another object of the invention is to transfer the knitwear in the region of the V-rolls with a substantially uniform speed to the take-down and/or winding-up device.
These and other objects are solved in accordance with this invention by means of a guide element which is arranged between the second end and the junction point for transferring a region of the knitwear including the second longitudinal fold to the V-rolls.
The invention leads to the advantage that the previously observed warping in the spread-out fabric is largely avoided. This is attributed to the fact that the knitwear is also guided in the region located between the fabric spreader and the junction point of the V-rolls and can for example be kept at a radial distance from the machine axis which corresponds substantially to the radial distance produced by the fabric spreader. Thus the fabric is prevented from undesirable radial movements after leaving the fabric spreader up until the place where it runs on to the junction point of the V-rolls and transfers to the V-rolls without backing up.